Naples corporation Arthrex may join trend of hiring company doctor for workers

NAPLES - If all goes as planned, Arthrex Inc. employees soon will join a growing national trend by visiting an in-house company doctor for basic medical attention.

The advantage to employees of the medical device manufacturing company, headquartered on Creekside Boulevard in North Naples, will be convenient access to a primary-care physician without a long wait or having to take time off from work.

For Arthrex management, opening a clinic and hiring a full-time physician is expected to enhance employee productivity, and promote wellness and prevention, said Kathy Sparrow, Arthrex's human resources director.

"This is the vision of the president, Mr. Schmieding," she said, referring to Arthrex founder Reinhold Schmieding, adding that he began talking about it some time ago.

At the time, Arthrex didn't have enough employees to justify moving forward, Sparrow said.

Now, with 830 employees at the Creekside campus and another 66 employees outside of Naples, company officials evaluated the concept and started looking for a physician to hire last fall, she said.

"We really appreciate our employees; we try to find the right way to address employees' needs," she said.

Employees weren't directly surveyed about their views of an in-house physician but Arthrex officials got feedback from managers, she said.

Arthrex intends to use space in a nearby medical office plaza off Creekside Boulevard for the clinic. Having it in a separate building helps protect employee privacy, Sparrow said.

A primary-care physician from outside of Collier County has been offered the position and terms are being negotiated, said David Bumpous, Arthrex's risk manager.

The expectation is an agreement will be reached, with June 1 a target date for opening the clinic, he said.

A number of corporations with 1,000 employees or more around the United States have been moving in this direction, whether to address occupational health issues or to be more proactive in employee wellness as an avenue to help control escalating insurance costs, he said.

Bumpous attended symposiums involving large employers exploring the issues, but he declined to identity some of the firms.

"I have spoken to a number of companies over the last two years," he said.

Michael Ratcliffe, with the consulting firm Fuld & Co., based in Cambridge, Mass., said about 1,000 large employers have clinics of some nature, primarily focused on occupational health but which also are able to address basic sicknesses.

"Now, as the cost of health care continues to escalate, companies have gotten much more sophisticated about thinking of their health-care costs," Ratcliffe said. "It is one of those components that the open market has evolved into. It is not being pushed by the government. It really has just evolved."

There are three issues that can be addressed, such as direct costs that corporations pay for employees' insurance, employee absenteeism and "presentism," when an employee is at work but ill and not performing as usual, he said.

Companies that have medical clinics are the auto and airline manufacturers, pharmaceutical companies and Fortune 500 companies.

"A lot don't have physicians, they have (registered nurses)," he said, adding that the companies usually see a return on their investment in one or two years. "There is a lot of interest among large companies."

Arthrex is aiming to provide employees with the convenience of access to high-quality medical care for better prevention of illness and for better management of chronic illnesses.

"Convenience is an issue," Bumpous said, adding that people lead busy lives and routine check-ups sometimes fall by the wayside.

Arthrex's insurer has a contract with Blue Cross/Blue Shield and a preferred provider organization (PPO) for employees.

What hasn't been decided yet is if employees will pay a fee when they use the Arthrex clinic or if it will be free, Bumpous said.

The clinic initially will be only for employees; later it will be available to spouses and children for basic issues but not pediatric care, he said.

No local businesses are watching this move by Arthrex, he said, in part because no local companies are similar in size.

"It is classic Arthrex," he said. "It is going above and beyond for employees."